Conventional Long Name: | British Windward Islands |
Common Name: | Windward Islands |
Status: | Colony |
Empire: | United Kingdom |
Year Start: | 1833 |
Event1: | Federation |
Date Event1: | 1871 |
Event2: | Colony of Barbados left |
Date Event2: | 1885 |
Event3: | Colony of Tobago left |
Date Event3: | 1889 |
Event4: | Colony of Dominica joined |
Date Event4: | 1940 |
Event5: | Overseas Territory |
Date Event5: | 1956 |
Event End: | Disestablished |
Year End: | 1958 |
Date End: | 3 January |
P1: | Colony of Barbados |
Flag P1: | Flag of Barbados (1870–1966).svg |
P2: | Colony of Dominica |
Flag P2: | Flag of Dominica (1955–1965).svg |
P3: | Colony of Grenada |
Flag P3: | Flag of Grenada (1875-1903).svg |
P4: | Colony of Saint Lucia |
Flag P4: | Flag of Saint Lucia (1875-1939).svg |
P5: | Colony of St. Vincent and the Grenadines |
Flag P5: | Flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (1907-1979).svg |
P6: | British Tobago |
Flag P6: | Flag of Trinidad and Tobago (1889–1958).svg |
S3: | West Indies Federation |
Flag S3: | Flag of West Indies.svg |
S1: | British Trinidad and Tobago |
Flag S1: | Flag of Trinidad and Tobago (1889–1958).svg |
Flag: | Flag of the British Windward Islands |
Symbol: | Coat of arms of the British Windward Islands |
Capital: | Bridgetown, Barbados (1871–1885) St George's, Grenada (1885–1958) |
National Motto: | I pede fausto (Latin: Go with a lucky foot) |
National Anthem: | "God Save the King" |
Common Languages: | English English-based creole languages Dominican Creole French Saint Lucian Creole French |
Title Leader: | Monarch |
Leader1: | William IV |
Year Leader1: | 1833-1837 (first) |
Leader2: | Elizabeth II |
Year Leader2: | 1952–1958 (last) |
Title Representative: | Governor-in-chief |
Representative1: | Lionel Smith |
Year Representative1: | 1833–1836 (first) |
Representative2: | Colville Deverell |
Year Representative2: | 1955–1960 (last) |
Currency: | Pound sterling (official) Spanish dollar, Mexican peso also used |
Religion: | Christianity (Anglican, Catholic, Methodist) |
The British Windward Islands was an administrative grouping of British colonies in the Windward Islands of the West Indies, existing from 1833 until 3 January 1958 and consisting of the islands of Grenada, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, the Grenadines, Barbados (the seat of the governor until 1885, when it returned to its former status of a completely separate colony), Tobago (until 1889, when it was joined to Trinidad), and (from 1940) Dominica, previously included in the British Leeward Islands.
The seat of government was Bridgetown on Barbados, from 1871 to 1885, and thereafter St. George's on Grenada. The islands were not a single colony, but a confederation of separate colonies with a common governor-in-chief, while each island retained its own institutions. The Windward Islands had neither legislature, laws, revenue nor tariff in common. However, there was a common audit system, while the islands united in maintaining certain institutions of general utility.
In 1859 a common court of appeal for the group was established, composed of the chief justices of the respective island colonies. Under the West Indian Court of Appeal Act 1919 this court was replaced by the West Indian Court of Appeal, responsible for appeals from not only the Windward Islands but also the Federal Colony of the Leeward Islands, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, and British Guiana.
In 1939 the Windward and Leeward Islands Supreme Court and the Windward and Leeward Islands Court of Appeal were established, which was replaced in 1967 by the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court which provides both functions.[1]